Read Brothers to the Death (The Saga of Larten Crepsley) for Free Online

mystery for me that it is for you. I can see into the future. I know what lies ahead.”
    “If that is true, you could stop it,” Larten said. “You could intervene and halt it at its source.”
    “I could,” Mr. Tiny said thoughtfully, then grinned viciously. “But that wouldn’t be any fun!”
    Mr. Tiny threw a mock salute at Larten and Gavner, then ducked out of the crypt. His Little People followed like a line of giant, gloomy ducks. Larten and Gavner stared at each other. Before they could say anything, Mr. Tiny stuck his head back inside. “Ialmost forgot—you’ll be seeing your old friend Wester Flack soon. Give him my regards, won’t you?”
    “Wester?” Larten snapped. “What is he doing here, and how do you…?”
    Before he could complete the question, Mr. Tiny was gone, leaving a troubled Larten and a bewildered Gavner alone in the crypt with the remains of the dead.

Chapter
Six
    A week later, with the Nazis hot on their trail, Wester caught up with Larten and Gavner on a windswept mountain. It was raining heavily. The pair had been searching for a cave where they could rest during the day. Larten spotted Wester from a long way off, but they kept searching while the guard closed in on them.
    Larten hugged Wester when he arrived. The pair were like brothers and had been for most of their lives.
    “It is a joy to see you,” Larten greeted him.
    “You too,” Wester smiled, but he looked drawn and tired. He started to speak, but Larten shook his head and wiped rain from his face.
    “Help us find a cave. We can talk when we are sheltered and dry.”
    Wester scoured the mountain with the others. In the end they found a tiny cave—little more than a hole—and squeezed into it. At least the rain wouldn’t drench them here. There was no room to light a fire, but they generated enough body heat to warm the cramped space.
    As they wrung the worst of the rain out of their clothes, Larten asked casually, “Why have you been consulting with Desmond Tiny?”
    Wester stared at Larten, astonished. “How do you know that?”
    “He paid us a visit recently.”
    Wester looked worried. “What did he say about me?”
    “Only that you would be joining us soon. He asked me to give you his regards.”
    Wester scowled. “Damn his
regards
! He shocked the life out of me a couple of years ago. I was scouting around the base of Vampire Mountain—Seba had asked me to bring him some berries—and Mr. Tiny hailed me from a tree.”
    “Desmond Tiny has returned to Vampire Mountain?” Larten snapped.
    “No. He didn’t enter. He said that he just happened to be passing, but I think he specifically came to see me.”
    Larten frowned. “Did he say why?”
    Wester sighed. There were dark rims around his eyes and the flesh of his cheeks was tight. He looked like he hadn’t slept much or eaten properly in a long time. “I’m losing support,” he said softly. “Those who stood by me in my campaign to alert the clan to the threat of the vampaneze are trickling away. The tide of opinion is turning. Many vampires see shades of our hatred for the vampaneze mirrored in the hatred of the Nazis for their enemies. They have begun to question our motives and goals.”
    Wester despised the purple-skinned vampaneze. One of them had killed his family. His thirst for revenge had never ebbed. He’d linked up with others of his mind-set and they had been trying to gather enough support to drive the vampires to war with their blood cousins. Larten was pleased to hear that they were losing momentum.
    “Mr. Tiny told me this would happen,” Wester went on. “He said he can see into the future, and that within a handful of years the anti-vampaneze movement will be a wreck. All but the most passionate willdesert us and war with the vampaneze will never come to pass.”
    “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Gavner asked innocently.
    “It is if you’re a vampaneze,” Wester spat.
    Gavner blinked. He’d met Wester a couple of